Pain, grief and anger in the air at McKay sentencing hearing

Just a day ahead of his 54th birthday, Jason McKay sat in the prisoner box in a Regina courtroom and listened to arguments over how much longer he’ll have to stay in prison.

Sentencing arguments were given on Wednesday for the stabbing death of Jenny McKay in 2017.

McKay was convicted of second-degree murder in the death back in 2020 and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years. He appealed and the conviction was overturned and sent back for a new trial.

That second trial was supposed to start last week, but two business days before it was expected to begin, McKay pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

The hearing started with the reading of victim impact statements from friends and family. There were 13 in total, some people spoke for a group and others had their statement from 2020 read out, along with a new statement for this second sentencing six years later.

They spoke about the hole left in their lives with the loss of Jenny and all the things they wanted to do with her that they couldn’t – her sister talking about getting married without Jenny and her kids never being able to know their aunt.

“She will not be there for my biggest moments, the way a big sister should. She will not know my husband or see me as a mother,” read Ali Campbell’s statement, Jenny’s sister.

And all that Jenny wanted to do that she now won’t.

“She wanted to see so many parts of the world, she wanted to spend more time in Nova Scotia where she grew up, she wanted to write more, she wanted to build a more fulfilling career. I believe Jenny would have made all of these things happen and more someday,” wrote Ben Campbell, Jenny’s brother, in his victim impact statement.

Many also talked about the anger and hurt they still feel, and in some cases, the fear that’s come into their lives since the murder.

Alyssa McKay, Jason’s daughter, was the only one to read their own victim impact statement out in court.

She talked about it being the first day of Grade 12 for her, and that, while she was nearly an adult, looking back, she was just a kid who lost both her parents.

She says she grieved Jenny’s death and wishes she’d agreed to join in more things with her, like cooking and yoga, she also grieved the loss of her father.

“One of the hardest things for me, still to this day, is not being able to talk to or see my dad whenever I want. I miss our bonfires, our long talks and dancing in the living room,” explained Alyssa.

She got emotional when she talked about how much Jenny and her father would have loved being grandparents, and says it’s difficult now answering her kids’ questions about her father.

The lawyers for the Crown and defence went through their arguments around sentencing in detail – the Crown asking for 18 years before McKay is eligible for parole, the same sentence asked for in the first trial. The defence asked for 12 years.

Both lawyers brought up his guilty plea in their arguments, but each for a different purpose.

Crown lawyer Adam Breker argued that while the guilty plea might be mitigating, he said it should be an extremely minimal mitigating factor and shouldn’t lower the parole eligibility.

Breker argued that the guilty plea came more than eight years after the death and just two business days before the second trial was due to start.

Defence lawyer Mike Nolin argued the guilty plea should be taken as a mitigating factor as it normally is, explaining it was done to save the families the pain and suffering of another trial.

He argued that McKay never tried to say he was innocent; the point of contention in the first trial was whether he had committed second-degree murder or manslaughter.

“This isn’t a situation where Mr. McKay failed to take responsibility for Jenny; he was prepared to take responsibility from the beginning. The Crown insisted – as is its right – to have a trial on second-degree murder,” said Nolin.

In his submission, Nolin gave his opinion that it was, indeed, second-degree murder, but said he couldn’t fault McKay for the advice he received early on in the court process. Nolin has only been the defence lawyer on this case for a few months.

McKay only spoke a few sentences to court when he was given the opportunity to speak.

“I’m just sorry for this horrific tragedy. I hope that everybody can move on from this. And I think of Jenny every day,” he said, facing toward the judge and lawyers.

Justice B.L. Klatt reserved her decision on the sentencing until Feb. 24. She said she was cognizant of the time this matter has already taken and she didn’t want to take much longer.